Australia's young batting star Jake Fraser-McGurk has taken the cricket fans in India by storm following his match-winning knock of 55 off 35 balls against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Friday (April 12). The right-handed batter smashed a quick-fire fifty on his IPL debut to help Delhi decimate the Lucknow bowling attack and chase down 168 away from home.
Known for his aggressive batting display, Fraser-McGurk wasted no time in announcing his arrival in the cash-rich league as he smashed his second delivery of the match for a maximum off Yash Thakur.
Naturally aggressive, Fraser-McGurk smashed three consecutive sixes against Krunal Pandya and put him under a tremendous amount of pressure.
The 22-year-old opened up on his approach to batting after the LSG game and revealed that he doesn't like to complicate it too much.
"It's just the same thing I've been doing in every other game for the last eight months - watch the ball, react to it and play to your instinct," Fraser-McGurk was quoted as saying by PTI.
The Aussie also revealed that the Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting had a word with him before heading into bat and it had a calming effect on him.
"My instincts are aggressive, but before I went out to bat, Ricky (Ponting) said just focus on the timing, middle the ball, don't try to hit it too hard," he added.
"That sort of helped me ease my nerves, went out there and had a great innings, and hopefully continue doing it."
Fraser-McGurk is delighted to be a part of Delhi Capitals and the IPL and mentioned that the experience of playing in the T20 carnival is "different to back home".
"It was a surreal moment, obviously it hadn't sunk in yet playing in the IPL. It's just an amazing team and organisation to be part of," he said.
"It's an amazing feeling being able to contribute to Delhi Capitals' win and hopefully we keep this going. The atmosphere out here is unbelievable, stadiums are massive, so many people and always loud. It's a lot different to back home," he concluded.
